But then again, he seems like the type of fighter whose entire life is built around passion – for better or worse.

McDaniel (20-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC) finally has his shot at “The Ultimate Fighter” on the current 17th season of the show. The Greg Jackson/Mike Winkeljohn-trained middleweight had a couple other cracks at making the show, but Season 11 and Season 13 didn’t work out. Legal trouble kept him off the first time, and the Season 13 decision to go with only welterweights cut his hopes that time.

But now, after defeating Ryan Bigler with a second-round TKO to get into the “TUF” house, McDaniel wants to take full advantage of this third opportunity.

“I’m a guy that’s been chasing a dream for a long time, and I’m finally making it work,” McDaniel told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “It’s been a long time coming, and I’m that guy who can let every kid or person that has a dream they want to pursue know that you can eventually make it. Don’t get me wrong – sacrifices come along the way. But if you stick to the grind, it is possible, no matter what your goal is.”

Motivating McDaniel right now is a second dream – a dream to return to more of a normal family life.

He’s hopeful that a long run on the show will help him attain that, especially if he can win the season.

“I’ve been away from my kids for four years now,” he said. “My family means so much to me, but I barely get to see them. The things I need to accomplish on this show to have that family life again, it means the world to me.”

Fighting is nothing new to McDaniel, a Texas native who brought an official six-fight win streak into the “TUF” house, not counting his TKO of Bigler in the elimination round. He’s also got some major-level MMA experience under his belt with a win under the Bellator banner and a pair of fights for EliteXC.

But growing up, McDaniel said a bit of a motor mouth sometimes got him out on the wrong foot with people, and that caused him to take his frustrations out in ways that kept him never too far from a little trouble.

“My mama’s a talker,” he said. “I learned how to talk when I was young. And in middle school and high school, that’ll get you in trouble. You have people giving you weird looks, and you’re the weird guy in school just because you talk and express how you’re feeling at the time, or what you’re thinking about. It’s hard growing up. That’s actually what started me off with a little rebellious streak when I was younger, too. I spent a good bit of time doing some therapies and things like that to try to tone myself down. I was a mad kid.”

Just how mad was he? Well, that’s when the trouble started up.

“I hated everyone,” McDaniel said. “It was at the point I was picked on so much, that when I finally flipped that switch, nobody was going to pick on me again. And if you did, there was going to be repercussions and I didn’t care about what happened afterward. I spent a whole lot of time in juvenile halls getting bonded out and things like that because of that same ego and issue.

“But at the same time, I didn’t want to get back to being that picked-on kid anymore, either.”

Now McDaniel has a different outlet for those emotions – training and fighting. And he realizes that if this isn’t his final shot at his big break, that final shot might not be too far around the corner.

So he plans on taking full advantage of it as part of his Jackson/Winkeljohn teammate Jon Jones’ squad.

“It’s almost (make or break),” he said. “I think one way or another, I’m going to continue after I leave here. Hopefully it’s with the UFC. If not, I’m going to try as much as I can to ride this. But at the same time, my goal is to be here. Period. I don’t want anybody to stand in my way. That’s why I’m so emotional at times in my fights.

“I’m very passionate about MMA, and this is a goal I’ve worked very hard and very long for. I’ve been away from my kids and there’s no way I’m not going to give it everything I have.”

MMAjunkie.com interviewed all 14 of “The Ultimate Fighter 17″ preliminary-round winners, each of whom was featured in the debut episode of “TUF 17: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen.” New interviews will be released each day until the season’s second episode airs on Tuesday.

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